


au naturel

by alexanderlightweight



Series: Words of October 2019 [19]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Flirting, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Semi-Sentient Tentacles, Soft Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Tentacles, Tentacletober, magical mishaps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 01:41:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20986718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexanderlightweight/pseuds/alexanderlightweight
Summary: Breakfast can quickly go awry when your husband stores the jam next to potion ingredients, elixirs and an assortment of no one quite knows what.





	au naturel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lynne_monstr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynne_monstr/gifts).

> I'm so terribly out of order but oh well. Fill for tentacletober prompt: how many of those are there?

“How many of those are there anyway?” Alec asked warily as pulled on a shirt, not bothering to button it up.

“Do I ask how many chest hairs you have?” Magnus retorted, hiding a grin behind his mimosa and admiring the view of said chest hair.

“Are you,” Alec hesitated and then scowled as he crossed his arms over his chest, “Magnus are you comparing your sudden and unexpected case of tentacles with my natural growth of chest hair?”

“It’s a lot of hair,” Magnus muttered, “who's to say it’s natural?”

It did the trick, Alec continued to scowl but there was a glint of mischief in his eyes, “oh so you’re saying your tentacles are completely natural?”

“They’re magical Alexander, just like me.” 

There was a moment of suspense, both waiting for the other to break and then Alec started chuckling. Magnus grinned more openly, eyes gleaming with glee at winning the battle, waiting to see what Alec would do.

“Well then, I’m sorry for thinking you could possibly know how many tentacles there are attached to you.” Alec said and Magnus’ heart fluttered at his boyish grin, a tentacle reacting to his joy by reaching out and pressing a raspberry against Alec’s cheek. Alec gaped in affront for a moment and then narrowed his eyes, “oh, really?”

Magnus wasn’t sure just what conclusion Alec had come to, but he took a very long and fortifying sip of his drink. Having tentacles was taking its toll on him. Not in the form of magical exhaustion or even the unfamiliarity of having new appendages, but because having curious and mishap prone tentacles tended to bring about havoc.

In fact, the entire ordeal was something of a magical mishap. A kitchen foray gone tragically wrong when Alec had gone to grab jam and instead, accidentally grabbed a jar of crushed red currants: cleansed with an infusion of sage and energized by the power of a full moon. Needless to say, Magnus had arrived to breakfast expecting french toast and a bit of domestic flirting before a nap and instead his magic had reacted to a perceived threat. Between his rather overprotective magic, his overpowered wards and an overpowered ingredient, it had left Magnus with a great many problems. 

One, breakfast had been ruined. Two, Alec had apparently made crepe, not french toast and Magnus had been denied eating them. Three, Magnus now had a rather large amount of tentacles whose main concern seemed to be making mischief... well, when they weren’t trying to undress Alexander that was.

So far in their quest to explore the loft, a vase had been broken, Magnus’ reversal potion had been upended, Alec had lost two shirts to the cause and- Magnus risked a look,  _ ah- _ three shirts to the cause and a pair of jeans. 

Alec was now down to his briefs and futilely trying to keep those, holding onto them with one hand and fending off tentacles with the other. It would almost have been a charming mental image, if Magnus weren’t about ready to drown himself in gin. As delightful as it was to watch them chase Alec around, the constant movement and flurry of his new limbs was making him dizzy.

“Darling, I thought we agreed we were going to appease them until they went away.” Magnus said, closing his eyes as he spoke because as delightful as it was to watch them chase Alec around, the constant movement and flurry of his new limbs was making him dizzy.

“I said I would be  _ nice _ ,” Alec defended and swatted one away, glaring when it flailed about and then dropped dramatically to the floor and went still. Magnus was fairly certain that if it could, it would be wailing and screeching at the pierced rejection. 

“And,” Alec continued as he untangled one from his bangs, “I said that because I thought you would at least be  _ trying _ to control them, I did not agree to be their sole source of entertainment.” 

“You’re just irresistible,” Magnus joked and bit his lip to hide a chuckle when the fallen tentacle sneakily rejoined the fight and hooked itself around Alec’s ankle, pulling gleefully. It was only shadowhunter reflexes that kept Alec from falling to the ground, he swayed, both arms coming up for balance and then there was a ripping noise and a very proud tentacle dropped a torn, defeated pair of ruined boxer’s on Magnus’ lap. 

“I concede,” Alec said, standing bare and with his arms crossed over his chest, “so I’m going to do the smart thing.”

“Oh?” Magnus inquired, eyes lighting up and he could literally feel the sparks of anticipation lighting up his spine and down every single tentacle, “and what is that?” 

Magnus blew out a thin curl of blue flame as he spoke that licked around the rim of his glass and settled there. Alec’s eyes watched the movement of Magnus’ tongue, hazel eyes barely visible from how blown his pupils were.

“That’s uh,” Alec paused and licked his lips and Magnus felt his desire flare, “something strategic. Very strategic.”

“I do love you in your combat mode,” Magnus practically purred and one of his tentacles came to take the glass from his fingers, moving to set it aside and free up his hands.

“Right, well this strategy is my best option,” Alec said and the sudden mischief in his voice made Magnus pause, “it’s called retreat.” Alec ran with a mad dash that Magnus barely registered and he’d only just started to rise when the slamming of their bedroom door practically reverberated through the loft.

“What just happened?” He asked the empty space, void of his husband and around him his tentacles drooped, retreating back to dramatics without Alec there to give them attention. 

He snapped his fingers, a reluctantly amused scowl settling on his face as his drink was brought back to him, “well, looks like we’ll just have to make a plan. He can’t stay in there forever.” Magnus comforted his tentacles and reached out to pat one conspiratorially, “after all, we do outnumber him.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr as [alexanderlightweight](https://alexanderlightweight.tumblr.com)


End file.
